Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says the addition of 500 officers - including the 167 vacancies police had when the government came in - will be tough to achieve but worthwhile.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell and Associate Police Minister Casey Costello had clarified at the Budget in May the 500 the government promised would be strictly over and above the number employed when the coalition took power. This meant some of the 500 would fill the vacancies police had at the time.
In a statement, Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said 160 officers would be put into community beat teams, and another 77 would be added to the National Gang Unit and frontline gang disruption units.
The remaining 263 roles will be in public safety teams, youth policing, and filling vacancies in districts.
"We are putting these additional officers where the need is greatest," the statement said.
Police were allocated $191 million over four years in Budget 2024 to recruit and retain the extra officers, plus $34.6 million to equip them.
The deployment of additional staff to the gang units would be concentrated in areas with the highest gang activity, Coster said.
The National Gang Unit would support districts to plan and coordinate operations, share intelligence and good practice. The Gang Disruption Units would be focused on enforcement - in particular once the new gangs legislation came into effect, he said.
Applications to join the NZ Police were trending up, with 1371 in July 2024 - the highest numbers of applications for any month since the national database was created in 2014.
A police infographic showing where the additional 500 officers will be assigned. Photo: Source: NZ Police
Speaking at a press conference at Police National Headquarters on Thursday, Luxon said staffing attrition rates were coming down and recruitment was going up, saying it was a "net gain" but there was still a lot of work to do to meet the target of 500 extra officers.
Minister of Police Mark Mitchell said he was "thrilled" with the extra staffing.
"We've already seen the positive impact of having a higher police visibility in our CBDs. Our beat officers engage with the public and retailers, and their presence discourages crime - it's exactly what Kiwis want to see.
"Extending community beat teams into towns and regional centres will mean a more reassuring and responsive policing presence for the general public and retailers across the whole country," Mitchell said.
The government wanted to make sure police had "every tool possible" to do their job, Luxon said.
Mitchell said police were used to dealing with gangs, and the new legislation would target those who flouted the law.
In response to questions about how and when that would be enforced, Luxon said the law was currently going through the House, then there would be a period of engagement with communities from late November, then it would be implemented.
Staff would be trained in how to understand the laws and enforce them, Mitchell said.
In response to questions about lowering crime rates, there was still "a long, long way to go", Luxon said.
He also defended the police approach to the national gangs list, saying it was about having accurate data so police can do their jobs better.
The list is updated every two months, but has been criticised in the past because of the difficulty of tracking gang membership. Depsite that, National when in opposition repeatedly used the list as evidence of rising gang membership.
Luxon said the hundreds removed from the list this year was about having accurate data.
"Guys, no disrespect, but it's not about the fricking targets, it's actually about the outcomes and the outcomes here are about reducing violent crime, and so we want to make sure we've got the best, most accurate, clean data we possibly can.
Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming said the changes were about validation and accuracy of gang membership.
Asked about the Firearms Registry, Luxon said the government had committed to review it to ensure it was being used in the right way and functioning effectively.
He stopped short of ruling out removing it, but said he would need to see a lot of evidence against having it to do so.
In response to a question about GDP falling 0.2 percent, Luxon said it was a "very tough time economically for New Zealand", and many businesses were "hanging in there".
The government had predicted a lot of "pain and suffering" when they were first elected, he said, and relief would come with lower interest rates and that was when people would see the economy grow.